Student sentenced to 40 years in prison

A Texas State student was sentenced to 40 years in prison after colliding head-on with another vehicle and killing four people.

Wilson Molinares pleaded guilty to four accounts of manslaughter. He was allegedly driving south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 35 in Kyle when he hit a minivan containing a family of six on Feb. 19, 2016.

Wilson Molinares, computer science junior, had originally been given a $1 million dollar grant—$250,000 for each charge. In trial March 24, Judge Jack Robinson lowered Molinares’ bond to $700,000 or $175,000 for each charge.

Kyle police officers stated Molinares’ blood alcohol content on the night of the crash was .207—almost three times the legal limit.

According to the court documents, a Kyle police officer was trying to catch up to Molinares’ Honda Civic when dispatchers told him the driver had collided with the minivan, causing both cars to flip over. As the officer pulled up to the scene of the crash, a pick-up truck ran into the minivan.

The driver of the minivan, 30-year-old Heinrich Martens, died at the scene of the crash.
Three of Martens’ passengers, Margaretha Wall Hildebrandt, 27, Gerard Hiebert Peters, 31, and their 16-month-old son Jacob Wall Hiebert died at the scene of the crash.

The family’s two young girls, Helena Hiebert, 6, and Mikayla Hiebert, 3, were the only survivors, rescued by emergency responders with minor injuries.

Molinares was critically injured in the incident and was taken to University Medical Center-Brackenridge in Austin. He was in the hospital for several weeks after the crash.

The suspect’s arrest warrant was signed Feb. 22 by Justice of the Peace Beth Smith, Precinct 2. He was booked March 3 into the Hays County Jail.

3 COMMENTS

I don’t know how many times we have to tell people not to drink and drive. They never listen, and then terrible things like this happen. Those poor girls. Their whole family is gone. Such a terrible, preventable tragedy.

Hi Bri, I’m not sure if you were the one that titled this article but I didn’t appreciate the misleading title. It most definitely was not an accidental crash. He made the decision to drink an for drive. That was not an accident but a choice. Please don’t put yourselves in the same category as “Fake news”.

I don’t think he deserves 40 years though… I mean what good does that do? Now our taxes have to pay for it for the next 40 years. Don’t you think it’d be better for society if he had to do mandatory community service for 40 years? (For example) What’s done is done, punishing him for 40 years won’t solve anything. PS. Erick, take a chill pill. I highly doubt he chose to run down a family of 6 in his car. I highly doubt it was a choice – it was an accident lead up to by his stupid decisions, yes.